I originally wrote this article during the pandemic but never published it, and after making a few updates, I decided to post it. It strikes me how relevant it is even when we are coming out of a pandemic, and some people are returning to the office (forced or own choice). More and more people become lonely, despite working in a team! In this post, I explore things you can proactively do to prevent that loneliness, it’s not a magic pill, but I hope if you try it, you will get one step closer to those you care about and inspires you to invest time in making few changes in your daily schedule.

Introduction

Whether you work from home alone or with a family, it can be challenging, whether you live in a huge house or a small apartment with two cats. You may find that the only time you can spend time with people, learn, laugh or co-work together is during a standup or when taking your four-legged friend for a walk. Spending time with our peers creates a stronger bond and helps us develop and deliver beautiful products without burning out.

6 tips for setting you up for a remote success

Here are a few tips that can get you started when feeling like each day is a little low on energy and loneliness kicks in:

  1. Schedule regular friendly 1-1’s with your teammates, meet different colleagues daily and strengthen that bond between you two. 
  2. Start having tea/coffee breaks at the same time every day with your entire team. Even short 15-30 min can boost your energy.
  3. Join hackathons within your company and outside, training and virtual meetups, even when it feels awkward at first.
  4. Search for internal or external events and bring your colleagues with you. There are plenty of challenges that will help you learn something new together.
  5. Start a weekly or monthly Lean Coffee with a similar competence group or people who want to improve and learn together.
  6. Work together through a time-boxed video call. Schedule an activity once a day or a week where you can all work together in silence. You can select a person that puts a timer on for the group and then get on with your task. You won’t believe how much you can get done when you see others doing it too.

Summary

I hope these few tips can get you started and help you step out of your comfort zone. Plenty of your colleagues and mids are just waiting to be approached, listened to, and asked for coffee. You don’t have to feel lonely when working from home!

 

If you find this article helpful, pass it along! 🙌🏽